"There's a word I found recently. Evanescence. It made me think of you. It made me think of us. Were we just a dream, Sebastian?"
TW : Key themes of suicide and trauma.
WARNING: This is Book Two. Please read "affluenza" first to avoid any spoilers...
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"THAT SUMMER, THERE were five of us. The guys were me, Ash, and later on a guy from his swim team—Christian. But there was also another girl, besides my sister. She was from The Academy; she went to school with Ash," Lennox recounts. "We hung out a lot that summer. The five of us. Near the end of it, though, she and Ash had some falling out."
"Over what?" I press.
He sighs softly. "Um, over me. She knew that Ash was bisexual, somehow. She threatened to tell people, which, he didn't really care about. He wasn't outgoing about that sort of stuff, but he wasn't ashamed of it either. Obviously, he would've been pissed. But not as pissed as he was when she went after me."
Devin's brows furrow. "Went after you, how?"
Lennox's face turns ashen. "It's a long story. One that ends with her having video proof of Ash and me hooking up. If that video got out, life would be hell for me. Everyone knew I was gay and they never let up about it. If people saw that video, it'd only get worse. Anyways, Ash found out that she had the tape and told me he'd take care of it. And he did. I never saw it anywhere."
"The video? Is it this same one?" Robyn asks tentatively, handing Lennox her phone. I watch as he watches back the video of him and Sebastian making out, the BLAST! that was posted the day I went to find Lennox.
Lennox nods once. "Yeah. That's the exact video." He tears his eyes away from the screen and flushes. "She's the only one that had that. So she must be ANON."
"And who is she, exactly?" I ask, eyes wide.
Lennox levels his eyes at me. "Mimi. Also known as, Michelle Hart."
I rack my brain, trying desperately to think of anyone from the Academy with the name Michelle. And then all at once, the night of Sebastian's memorial comes rushing back to me.
I remember their names briefly: Bryson, Fiona, Michelle, and Adam. I never really spoke to them during high school so I'm not sure why they're approaching me now.
"Braylen, hey," Michelle says, wrapping me in a quick hug. It's awkward, to say the least, but she seems harmless. The way Bryson is looking at me right now suggests something else. "It's so great to see you. How are you feeling?"
I glance around, searching for an excuse to disappear, and find none. "Hi, Michelle. Nice to see you too. I'm good."
"This must be so hard, being here," Fiona says with wide eyes that seem too pale a blue next to her flaming red hair. "You're so strong, Braylen."
Hayley wraps her hand around mine. "How did you all know Ash?"
